Tuesday, October 2, 2012

CHAPEL HILL -- For the first time, NCAA President Mark Emmert earlier today commented on the ongoing academic fraud case at North Carolina. Well, he kind of commented.

Emmert joined CBSSports.com columnist Gary Parrish on The Gary Parrish Show, which is broadcast on 92.9-FM in Memphis. You can listen to the interview right here - it starts at about the 20-minute mark. If you do listen, you'll understand that Parrish's questions were a lot better than Emmert's anwers.

As you might expect, he didn't offer much of a comment about whether UNC might be subject to further penalties, or whether the NCAA's enforcement staff is even continuing to look into the problems at UNC.

Asked by Parrish whether the NCAA was finished with UNC or whether UNC might be subject to further sanctions, Emmert said: "Yeah, I can't comment on ongoing investigations but the fact is is that North Carolina right now is doing a - from all appearances - a good job of trying to get to the bottom of what their problems are. We'll have to wait and see what the facts are as they come out of that situation. But I obviously can't comment on a case when it still hasn't been finalized. The university I think has been chagrined by all of this. They're working very diligently to get to the bottom of it and we'll just have to see what the facts are as they become clearer."

So judging from that - Emmert saying he wouldn't comment about "ongoing investigations" - it would appear the NCAA's enforcement staff is still conducting an investigation. Right? That was basically Parrish's next question.

To which Emmert said ...

"Again, I'm not going to make a comment on our role with UNC right now other than to point out that we've been down there - as everyone knows, we've already of course managed a number of issues that they've had and handed out some penalties for that. And then we'll continue to monitor the situation to see what the facts are as they unfold from the investigations that they're involved with, and if there's anything further that we need to do at that time."

So, to summarize: The NCAA is continuing to monitor the situation, but won't say anything of substance about what might or might not happen with UNC.

0
comments:

About this blog

David Scott has been with the Observer for 28 years and has written about ACC, SEC and other college sports in the Charlotte region. He covers Wake Forest, South Carolina and college soccer for the Observer and (Raleigh) News & Observer.

J.P. Giglio covers the ACC for the News & Observer, where he has worked since 1997, and the Observer.

Andrew Carter covers the North Carolina Tar Heels for the Observer and News & Observer.

Laura Keeley covers the Duke Blue Devils for the Observer and News & Observer. Follow her on Twitter.

Chip Alexander covers the Carolina Hurricanes and college football for the News & Observer, where he has worked since 1979, and the Observer.

Luke DeCock has worked for The News & Observer since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist for the Observer and News & Observer in August 2008.